The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits - Chapter 211



EP10. The Falling Twilight

The army of Oman began to rush in. Ainzel watched them.

The current defeat is certain. The Demon King must have seen the current defeat and invaded here. However, they had to postpone the desperate resistance now. They had to do it even though they knew they would lose, even though they knew it was a meaningless sacrifice.

Feria casted her spell. She wanted to inflict as much damage as possible on her enemies. That is why she used her spell to reduce the number of enemies while they were still unable to enter the capital.

The same was true for Lena and Grandis. Grandis’s black magic showed off a destructive power greater than that of Peria, and steadily reduced the demons, while Lena, instead of killing many at once, steadily reduced the high-ranking demons one by one. The Demon King smiled brightly at the sight.

“You’re throwing a tantrum.”

In any case, in the future that the Demon King saw, it was a predetermined future that he would conquer the capital of the empire. That is why the Demon King did not particularly care about such sacrifices. It is not clear if anything had changed, but there was not a single difference between the future he saw and the present.

‘Still, just in case, it would be better to check the future again.’

The Demon King was almost paranoid about using his powers, fearing that the future might suddenly change just before he attacked.

However, that did not mean that he was relying solely on power. Rather, his mental dependence on power had decreased to an incomparable degree compared to before. However, the frequency of activating power had increased, and the Demon King laughed inwardly at this special situation.

Soon, the future scenery was reflected in the Demon King’s eyes. The condition was, as always, the future of what would happen if he attacked the empire now. And, that future, without changing a bit, was firmly reflected in his eyes.

The Demon King confirmed it and laughed. He felt like an idiot for being so nervous. Certainly, the enemy would lose the capital with the current attack. This was the moment when a hole was made in the enemy’s defense system.

However, while thinking like that, Demon King Laplace was gripped by an ominous premonition. In a way, it could be said to be an instinct. Clearly, the benefits of winning this battle were beyond imagination. In fact, it was to the extent that it could be considered as winning the war.

Moreover, not only was the gain great, but the odds of victory were also great. His power to foresee the future continued to show him the fall of the empire’s capital, so victory was practically a foregone conclusion.

But, but for some reason, the feeling of unease did not go away. Why? Even though it was clearly visible that if the capital were to fall, it would be the end, I felt a strange feeling of foreboding running down my spine, almost to the point of certainty, that this could not possibly be the end.

‘…There’s no need to worry about it.’

However, the Demon King tried to ignore it. He could not bear to let go of this opportunity by making a unilateral decision based on vague words such as his premonitions, intuition, or instincts. This was especially true because he was the Demon King. It might have been okay for a mere warrior, but the position of the Demon King was high and required a certain level of responsibility.

Laplace thought of the other demon lords in the demon world.

‘…Things like trash.’

The Demon King of Sloth was so lazy that he wouldn’t even take a single step out of his Demon King’s Castle, and the Demon King of Greed… I heard that he spent all day making out, not even leaving his room, let alone the Demon King’s Castle. Laplace felt angry that such people had the same title as him.

He felt disillusioned by the fact that those scumbags, who didn’t even know why they became the Demon King, were doing such pathetic things for personal reasons without even thinking about taking responsibility, and so he gradually became crushed by the sense of responsibility, thinking that he was the only one who fully understood that sense of responsibility.

The things on his shoulders made the Demon King look away from his intuition. No, perhaps it was the result of his arrogance, as he was the Demon King of Arrogance. It could also be said that it was close to his arrogance, which was that his reason surpassed his intuition, and that he had a strong sense of responsibility, unlike other Demon Kings.

If it were other Demon Lords, unlike Laplace, no matter how much power they received, the moment their premonitions sounded the alarm, they would have returned without a sense of responsibility or hesitation. However, Laplace, unlike them, had a sense of self-awareness and responsibility as a Demon Lord, and above all, he had absolute faith in his own reason. Since it had been proven that neither his power nor his authority was perfect, the only thing that could be perfect was his reason.

Yes, it had to be perfect. As little damage as possible, as fast as possible, as perfect as possible… That was what the Demon King wanted.

That is why the Demon King glared at the army before him that was rebelling against his army, and the enemies consisting of Peria, Grandis, and Lena. Among them, the one that was particularly disturbing was…

“Is that her?”

The Demon King took in Lena’s appearance. He didn’t like the sight of her trying to kill the remaining mid-level and upper-level demons, even though she had already lost many high-level demons. In some ways, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she was the most difficult opponent in this battlefield. Unlike magic or black magic that had a good range to deal with many enemies at once, the arrows that were simply made of pure energy and pierced the opponent before they could even see them were impossible to defend against for those of a lower level than her.

There was no way to continue making useless sacrifices. The Demon King snapped his fingers, and in an instant he was right in front of Lena.

Lena couldn’t help but feel incredibly flustered at that moment. She had intentionally hidden herself without using any magical power other than the one she used to create arrows, so how could she have been aware of her existence?

She didn’t even have a protective shield around her body. That meant that her location had been determined for another reason. At that moment, Lena could tell how she had determined her location.

“…no way.”

You read the trajectory of your own arrow? She was shocked. Her arrows were made of strong energy and usually disappeared after completing her intended purpose of shooting at the enemy. In other words, there was nothing to guess her location no matter where you looked. The only thing was that she had already seen the arrow being shot and read its trajectory.

And, the being before her eyes was capable of such absurd things. That was why he was a Demon King. That was why he was the strongest creature. Lena’s face hardened.

As the Demon King’s black magic flew towards her, she shouted.

“Damn it-”

It was a short, final word. But before he could finish speaking, the Demon King’s black magic exploded.

“Cough!”

She was blown far away from the wall. If she hadn’t used her self-defense weapon, she would have been blown back into the wall like the others, and she vomited blood.

And then, beings blocking the Demon King’s path appeared.

“…What are you?”

It was Beatrice and Sein. The Demon King realized that fact and clicked his tongue. They were strong men who had reached the highest level of demons. Of course, even if the two of them attacked together, he would win, but even so, it was inevitable that time would be wasted. Although he wanted to deal with the archer now, since his victory was already certain, the Demon King had no intention of pushing himself too hard no matter how much he wanted to deal with the archer. In an instant, he disappeared, leaving only empty air behind.

As soon as the brief standoff ended, Beatrice ran straight to Lena. Lena was vomiting blood. She immediately checked Lena’s condition and administered emergency treatment.

“Oh, this is more serious than I thought. Can you tell me what happened?”

Let’s say that, Lena said with a wrinkled face.

“…That b*stard must have seen the trajectory of my arrows and came to me. He must be sure of it, judging by the fact that he disappeared when you came to deal with me. He must be sure that he will win.”

That statement was consistent with the idea that Ainzel’s plan was working. Lena sighed and said.

“Haaah, but what happened to the other side?”

“…For now, Feria and Grandis are said to be reducing the number of enemies as much as possible. And Ainzel… will give the signal soon.”

The moment the signal is given, they begin to retreat. And then, the real operation begins.

Lena, who knew that fact, had a determined expression.

And finally, the trumpet call of retreat began to fill the battlefield.